A delegation of 63 students and lecturers of International Relations and Conflict Management from the United States International University (USIU) of Kenya are in the country to study from Rwanda’s past conflict history especially the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The students who are on a 5-day visit yesterday visited the Ministry of Defence headquarters at Kimihurura where they were lectured about the country’s current position, 15 years after the 1994 Genocide.

The group was also lectured about how the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) managed to bring to a halt the violence that had gripped the country in 1994 as well as the transformation from a Guerrilla/liberation force to a professional and highly skilled force that the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) is currently.

According to Moses Onyango who heads the international relations at the Nairobi-based University, the students, who include several Rwandan students, are determined to understand how Rwanda has managed to ‘come to terms’ with the 1994 Genocide and its devastating effects.

"The students really want to know how this country has managed to put the past behind and carry on. The students have read a lot about the 1994 Genocide but what we are really interested in is to know how the country has managed to come to terms with it and its effects, they are really very interested” Onyango said.

The students who also visited the Foreign Affairs Ministry before going to MINADEF were welcomed by the Permanent Secretary Zac Nsenga before they engaged in an interactive session with the PS, Col. Charles Karamba, the RDF head of Research and Development, Col. Mike Nkurunziza of J3 (Operation and Training) and Maj. Jill Rutaremara, Director of Planning and RDF Spokesperson.

Nsenga highlighted the role the RDF has played in peace building in the country since 1994 but also the role of the army in society building especially during peace times as well as the peacekeeping roles in the region and the continent in general.

He also briefed the visiting students about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and how the government at the time perpetrated and carefully planned it years before it actually took place and how the RPA managed to defeat the genocidaire army and interahamwe militias to halt the killings before it could establish a stable and reconciliatory government that is in power today.

The officials also briefed students on the uphill task of integrating the remnants of the genocidaire army and also deal with those that chose to flee to neighbouring countries like that DRC where to date they have continued to pose a security threat as well as continued efforts by the two governments (Rwanda and DRC) as well the entire East African Community to address the issue.

Among other things, the Army officers lectured the visiting students about the major transformations the RDF has gone through as well as the campaign to win ‘minds and souls’ since 1994 to the highly skilled, professional force today.

According to Maj. Jill Rutaremara, the students who will also visit the National University of Rwanda and Gacaca courts as part of their Great Lakes tour are determined to learn from how Rwanda managed to resolve the conflict that engulfed it in 1994 and the role of the army as well as how the country has managed to set up effective institutions such as the judiciary, military among others.

The group will visit the Kigali Memorial Site at Gisozi and Nyamata Genocide Memorial Site in Bugesera District and also attend the Liberation Day Celebrations before they wind up their visit.

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